Ashutosh Shukla
"A revolutionary is ready to die for his cause; a politician is not. In a democracy, the best are sidelined and, as a result, mediocre people take decisions for the masses," said Lavanam, 80, a Gandhian.
Lavanam was honoured at the 32nd Jamnalal Bajaj Awards in the city on Friday. He spoke to a special press gathering at the Bajaj Bhavan in Nariman Point before the award ceremony.
"Today, people say power comes from the barrel of a gun," Lavanam said. "I want to know what is power. Is it heart, mind or life? Revolution should always be a personal preference. Narasimha Rao had said that implementation of the rule of law is the beginning of human rights. That is what we want. Institutions are controlled by anti-social elements and they are forcing people to behave in a certain way."
Lavanam has been working to help people with employment, eradicate casteism, provide interest-free loans, and support inter-caste marriages.
The other recipients of the award were Ayyapa Masagi for his contribution in the application of science and technology in rural development, Dr Jaya Arunachalam for the development and welfare of children, and Father Charles Peter Doughtery for promoting Gandhian values outside India.
"People now need to be careful of concealed and structured violence," Doughtery said. "These come from institutions and sectarianism."
Jaya's contributions include providing jobs and micro-finance to 11 lakh women in three states. "Being able to remove fear from the hearts of the locals is true empowerment," she said.
Ayyapa's contributions towards creating awareness on the scarcity of water and implementing his non-irrigational techniques for better yields in nine states were acknowledged. "We need to look at using rainwater judicially as certainty of rain is rare," he said.